Oil Refiners Say Higher Ethanol Blends May Damage Engines

By Mark Drajem -
Jan 29, 2013

Ethanol-blended gasoline approved
for use in most U.S. vehicles may damage car engines by harming
fuel pumps, according to a study funded by oil refiners and
automakers.

The industry groups have opposed the standard set by the
Environmental Protection Agency that allows so-called E15
blended fuels, which contain 15 percent ethanol. While the EPA
cleared the blend for most vehicles sold since 2001, the study
released today by the Coordinating Research Council shows it may
cause fuel-pump failures, component swelling and problems that
could trigger on-board diagnostic system breakdowns.

“Given the types of vehicles tested, it’s safe to say that
millions could be affected,” Bob Greco, the American Petroleum
Institute’s downstream group director, told reporters. “The
more we study, unfortunately, the more difficult issues we
uncover.”

Ethanol, fermented from grain such as corn in a process
similar to making moonshine, must be blended into gasoline under
the government’s Renewable Fuel Standard as a way to cut the
amounts of crude oil used to make motor fuel. It’s typically
sold at filling stations in a formula known as E10, with 10
percent ethanol mixed with 90 percent gasoline.

‘Prominent’ Label

Stations aren’t required to sell the fuel. The EPA and the
Federal Trade Commission require E15 sellers to post a
“prominent orange and black label” to let consumers know a
pump contains the higher concentration of ethanol.

Supporters of its use say refiners are funding studies such
as the one released today by the Coordinating Research Council
in their bid to overturn the Renewable Fuel Standard, either in
court challenges or through legislation.

“This is more of the same old junk science, recycled by
oil companies to continue to attack biofuels, which are cutting
into their market segment and bottom line,” Michael Frohlich, a
spokesman for the ethanol-industry group Growth Energy, said in
an e-mail. “I am surprised that the CRC has not attempted to
provide ‘scientific’ data that links E15 to flat tires.”

Growth Energy, with offices in Washington and Omaha,
Nebraska, is led by former U.S. Army General Wesley Clark and
Jeff Broin, the chairman and founder of Poet LLC, the country’s
second-biggest ethanol maker, behind Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM)